Formula 1

Daniel Ricciardo relieved after first podium of the year

Published May. 14, 2017 2:34 p.m. ET

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Adam Cooper

Daniel Ricciardo said he felt relieved after earning his first podium of the year with third place in Barcelona.

The Australian admitted he was lucky after teammate Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen were eliminated by a first-lap collision, and later Valtteri Bottas retired with an engine issue.

“Relief, and happiness,” said Ricciardo when asked about his feelings. “It’s been a little while. It’s nice, weather was good, the fans were good. Actually I noticed on the in lap, I think it was turn 12, it looked like a dedicated Max sort of fan club, all in orange, and maybe they were doing it for everyone, but they seemed to actually give me a lot of love! They seemed pretty cool, so obviously, they were still hanging around and showing support. I’m sure they support Max but maybe, as a team, they love Red Bull so that was nice to see.”

Ricciardo said he had an uneventful race: “We got, I guess a bit lucky, not sure what the problem was with Valtteri, looked like he just stopped on the side of the track, I guess something with engine failure or whatever but yeah, it’s nice to be up here nonetheless.

“As for my race, yeah, not any exciting stories besides watching a bit happen in front of me at the start. Otherwise, just trying to manage it. At the end, I felt I was trying to get the most out of it, pushing but I heard the lap times they were doing at the end, and we’ve still got a bit to go but we’ll keep working at it, try and stay positive and keep everyone motivated.”

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